Con Artists Ringing Up Credit Bills

Investigators from Seminole and Orange counties are warning credit cardholders not to give out their card numbers over the telephone to callers offering free trips, new cars or other glamorous prizes.

Many of the calls are scams that cost credit card companies millions of dollars -- costs that are passed on to cardholders, investigators say.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Department has received dozens of calls from worried cardholders who have given out their numbers expecting to collect a fabulous prize, said department spokesman John Spolski. Three people reported that the caller hung up when the cardholder asked why their card number was needed, he said.

No such complaints have been reported in Orange County, but sheriff's Detective Will Dennis said he has heard of the scam and it is spreading.

The caller tells the potential victim that he or she has won a prize but requests a credit card number and expiration date so the winner's identity can be verified.

For example, in Seminole County, the caller said he was with The Gold Card Travel Club and that the victim has won a trip to Hawaii. But the winner could not collect until his identity was checked through his credit card number. In some cases, the caller requests numbers from two major credit cards, Spolski said.

Usually, that's the last the cardholder hears of the prizes but not about the credit card, Spolski said.

With the card information con artists can spend thousands of dollars in television offers and mail sales, Dennis said. Or they can make counterfeit cards and spend in store after store without getting caught, he said.

Because of billing delays, it could be more than a month before the cardholder learns his or her card is being used illegally, Spolski said. Cardholders used to hefty monthly bills may not notice expenditures made by the thief.

Spolski said the scam is spreading quickly across the nation. FBI agents in California are investigating suspected fraud rings and the Secret Service has been given authority to handle such cases.

Dennis said con artists are difficult to prosecute because they are hard to identify. Jurisdiction poses another problem over who has authority to arrest, he added. Penalties for credit card fraud vary, depending on the circumstances of each case, he said.

''The main problem is identifying the false user. Their success is phenomenal.''

So are the card companies' losses, said Joe Dawson, security representative for VISA International in Miami. Last year, VISA lost $29 million to counterfeit card users, Dawson said. The company has 120 million cardholders. Meanwhile, card companies are installing sophisticated computers to detect counterfeit or stolen cards as the con artist is using them, he said. VISA also is issuing new cards specially marked with holograms and other identifiable features that can't be easily duplicated, he said.

However, law enforcement officials say the best prevention is for cardholders to be protective of their card numbers.

''There is virtually no reason that I can think of to give a credit card number out over the phone,'' Dennis said. ''The potential for fraud is unbelievable.''